Research suggests that, on average, families need an income of about twice the federal poverty threshold to meet their most basic needs. Children living in families with incomes below this level—$48,072 for a family of four with two children in 2015—are referred to as low income. The United States measures poverty by an outdated standard developed in the 1960s.

Parental Presence

Data Notes and Sources

Last Updated: May 17, 2017

Some graphs may not be shown because of extremely small sample sizes.

Because of rounding, not all figures will add up to 100%.

National data were calculated from the 2015 American Community Survey, representing information from 2015. State data were calculated from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey, representing information from the years 2011 to 2015.

Definitions

The demographic findings on this page were calculated using federal poverty thresholds issued by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more information about federal poverty thresholds, see the US Census website.

Low Income

Families and children are defined as low-income if the family income is less than twice the federal poverty threshold (see Poor).

Parent

A parent is defined as an individual over the age of 17 who lives with a dependent child. Among children who do not live with at least one parent, parental characteristics are those of the householder and/or the householder's spouse.

Poor

Families and children are defined as poor if family income is below the federal poverty threshold. The federal poverty threshold for a family of four with two children was $24,036 in 2015, $24,008 in 2014, and $23,624 in 2013.

Young Child

A young child is defined as an individual under the age of 6. Children living in group quarters and children living with only unrelated adults are excluded from these data.